There is a new body in town and it's sensuous, modern and supremely versatile: Burberry Body, a new aromatic line from the British fashion house, is one of the most pioneering developments in perfumery in many decades - not so much, dare I say, for its fragrant build as its use as a fully integrated medium to project the entire Burberry brand.

The hub of the line is an eau de parfum, which is supported by an eau de parfum Intense, body milk and body oil. The aroma - rose, freesia, peach and iris with green absinthe, cashmerean musk and vanilla - and choice of face, English rose actress/model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - are safely conventional. But that is where the predictable ends, since Burberry Body's role goes way beyond that of scenting and softening the skin.

"It's so much more than a fragrance to us", reveals Burberry's chief creative Christopher Bailey. "It's the biggest launch we have ever done - one that captures all the modernity and heritage of this British brand today, reflecting all the facets that make up the Burberry world".

Burberry have been working on this launch for years and rather than just turning out another scent, the brief from the start was to make something truly iconic and unique, placing the attitude and energy of the trench coat at the centre, and connecting everything Burberry do - from their collections through to their music, stores, online platforms and communities. "Through Burberry Body we want to unite all our audiences," reveals Bailey, "and give them a very distinctive point of view".

It's nothing new for a scent to be a fashion house's olfactory envoy, but the way Burberry have introduced us to this idea is forward-thinking and befitting of the time. Take the launch campaign: preview samples are available via
Burberry's Facebook page
- a first for a scent debut and a strategy which, in making the offering instantly accessible to everyone (all you have to do is 'like' it - and 8 million already do), both curbs embargo-breaking bloggers - whose previews can ruin a brand's launch strategy in one post - and makes conventional launch marketing via PR seem suddenly very outmoded...

Burberry Body is touted as the next chapter in 155 years of Burberry history. Pay attention to it, because it also happens to represent the future for perfumery as a whole.